St. Jude Medical Announces the Release of EnSite System Version 8.0

May 21, 2008

May 21, 2008 - St. Jude Medical Inc. released its EnSite System Version 8.0, software designed to intuitively visualize the anatomy of the heart to diagnose and treat abnormal heart rhythms, at Heart Rhythm 2008.

The EnSite System is used in minimally invasive electrophysiology (EP) procedures. Catheters with electrodes are inserted into the cardiac chamber and then are located and visualized by the EnSite System, which records electrical information and creates a rendering of the chamber anatomy. The resulting images help physicians create detailed heart models to facilitate the diagnosis and delivery of therapy for abnormal atrial heart rhythms, including Atrial Fibrillation (AF). The EnSite System allows catheter navigation to occur without fluoroscopy and reduces the risk associated with too much exposure to X-rays.

The new EnSite v.8.0 software expands the capability of the EnSite System to help physicians better visualize reentrant arrhythmia circuits, a common abnormal heart rhythm. The EnSite v.8.0 also gives physicians the ability to view how these reentrant circuits propagate or move about the cardiac chamber. This feature improves physicians' ability to identify the location of the arrhythmia so they have more control over the procedure.

Additional features include map visualization enhancements, which provide a more realistic perspective on the location of catheters, lesions, and anatomical points of interest. EnSite v.8.0 also includes enhancements to the electrical "noise" filters to improve cardiac signal detection and help physicians better analyze low amplitude signals such as complex fractionated electrograms, a growing area of interest for EP physicians.